predation

In the late 1990s, golden eagle predation left 15 foxes on Santa Rosa Island; after the eagles were removed, numbers recovered to about 1,200 by 2015

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After island fox populations plunged by more than 90% on parts of California’s Channel Islands, a coordinated recovery effort addressed predation, disease and habitat pressures. (Wikimedia Commons)

Santa Rosa Island’s island fox population fell from an estimated 1,780 in 1994 to just 15 in the late 1990s, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. By 2015, the population had rebounded to about 1,200 following a coordinated conservation effort. After island fox populations plunged by more than 90% on parts of California’s … Read more